Special Response Team Called To Lanesborough Home

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Bailey Road was closed for close to eight hours Tuesday after a man barricaded himself inside a home.

Police said a Bailey Road resident called at about 11 a.m. to report that another household member was "shooting in the house and out the window." The reporting party then fled to a neighbor's house.

Lanesborough Police, state police, and the Berkshire County sheriff's department set up a perimeter around the house and police, with the help of Lanesborough's Highway Department, shut down Bailey Road from Route 7 to Noppet Road. Traffic was diverted throughout the day around Brodie Mountain Road.

The Berkshire County Special Response Team was called and relieved the initial responders. Police then made multiple attempts to reach the individual through crisis negotiators with the Special Response Team and the State Police Crisis Negotiators Unit but were unsuccessful.

For hours, police could be heard through a megaphone calling on a man to exit the home. After nearly six hours without contact with the individual, the Special Response Team entered the residence.

The scene was then turned over to detectives with the state police assigned to the Berkshire County district attorney's office, and the State Police Crime Scene Services Unit.

Bailey Road was re-opened to traffic at about 7 p.m. Officers from Lanesborough, Pittsfield, Lee, Lenox, North Adams, Adams, the Massachusetts State Police, and the Berkshire County Sheriff's Department assisted on the scene.

Dog Takes Bite Out of Lanesborough Thief's Pants

A German shepherd thwarted a would-be robber in the Balance Rock and Potter Mountain Road neighborhood Monday night. Police say there has been somewhat of a rash of attempted break-ins in the neighborhood, with three reported in the last two days.

However, at one home, the cat burglar met his foe — the dog.

Police say the homeowner returned home to find his dog outside and a back door open. Later, he found remnants of what appears to be someone's ripped pants.

Despite the doggo scaring the burglar from one home, police say at another the perpetrator was able to steal a number of items — exactly what items isn't being revealed because the case is under investigation.

On Tuesday, police received another report of a homeowner in the same area returning and hearing somebody upstairs. The homeowner didn't find anyone but did find a garage door open.

Police are reminding people to lock their windows and doors and if they see something, say something because they'd "rather investigate suspicious activity that turns out to be harmless than to miss an opportunity to potentially catch someone in the act of committing a crime."

Police Investigating Attempted Abduction From Berkshire Mall

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Police are looking for assistance in identifying a man accused of attempting to abduct a 9-year-old girl at the Berkshire Mall on Sunday night.

Police released a composite sketch of the man they are looking to question regarding the incident. Police Chief Tim Sorrell said the 9-year-old girl was in the hallway near the bathrooms around 5 p.m. when the man allegedly grabbed her by the hair and shoulder and pulled her toward the back of the hallway.

But he stopped when another adult came out of the men's room. The girl ran back to the food court, where her grandmother was waiting for her.

There were no cameras in that section of the mall and mall security conducted a search to no avail. Police received descriptions of the individual from the girl and her mother, who had noticed the man in the hallway earlier.

Police contacted a composite artist from Woburn to create the image shown.

The man is described as white, standing between 5 feet 7 inches and 6 feet tall. He was wearing a hooded sweat shirt, with the hood down. Police are asking anyone who may have seen the incident, who knows the individual or may have seen the individual at the mall to contact them at 413-443-4107.

Lanesborough Police Arrest Vermont Man For String of Car Breaks

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Police arrested a Bennington, Vt., man whom they believe is responsible for a number of recent car breaks.

On Tuesday, police arrested 29-year-old Nicholas Leonard at the Weathervane Motel on a number of charges related to the string of car break-ins. Leonard is being held at the Berkshire County House of Correction on $5,500 bail and will be arraigned on Wednesday.

"A concerned citizen knew we were looking for him and said they saw him at the Weathervane," said Chief Timothy Sorrell.

Leonard is being charged by Lanesborough Police on four counts of breaking and entering a motor vehicle, two counts of larceny under $250, and single counts of uttering, larceny over $250, and forgery. Pittsfield Police and Vermont authorities are also expected to file charges relating to similar incidents in those areas.

"Numerous stolen items were found in the room from various break-ins in Pittsfield and Lanesborough," Sorrell said.

The chief said Leonard had been suspected in the recent car breaks. Just three days earlier, Lanesborough Police used Facebook to warn citizens to lock their car doors to protect their property.

Leonard was apparently seen on video in one of the breaks, according to Sorrell. He also alleged that Leonard had stolen a checkbook, wrote checks for cash, and provided identification when he went to cash them.

Prior to Tuesday's arrest, there were default warrants: one from 2011 in Williamstown for 20 counts of breaking and entering a motor vehicle and one from 2015 in North Adams for failing to provide a DNA sample — Massachusetts requires those convicted of a felony to provide one.

In 2011, Leonard was charged with breaking into vehicles in Bennington and Pownal, Vt., and in Williamstown. He was accused of some 41 car break-ins and stealing more than $10,000 worth of various items.

North Adams Woman Injured in Collision With Box Truck

The RAV 4 was peeled open to extricate the driver. Photos provided by a reader.

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — A 19-year-old North Adams woman is expected to be taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield after her vehicle collided with a box truck Tuesday morning.

Police say Samantha Scutt, 19, of North Adams was southbound on Route 8 when she veered into oncoming traffic and collided with a 2010 Chevrolet box truck driven by Carl Gasco, 50, of Millbury. The crash occurred at about 9:30 a.m. at the intersection of Route 8 and Old State Road. The box truck, owned by Linders Inc. of Worcester, also hit a utility pole and electrical wires were hanging "dangerously close" to the scene.

Scutt was trapped inside of her 2002 Toyota RAV 4 for an hour and a half before she could be extricated using the Jaws of Life and taken to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield. A state trooper got into her vehicle to stay with her through the ordeal.

Police say she has serious injuries and is expected to be transferred to Baystate. Gasco was also taken to Berkshire Medical Center with broken legs and possible internal bleeding.

Responders from Lanesborough, Pittsfield, Cheshire and Dalton fire department, and County Ambulance worked to extricate the two operators.

The crash led Route 8 to be closed for nearly six hours. Scutt will be cited for a marked lanes violation.